Canon Powershot S30 Review

By
Movable Type Admin

Playback Screens & Menus

Switching the S30 into Play mode will bring the last picture captured up in fullscreen
mode with overlay data for folder/picture number, current picture / total number of
pictures, image quality and size, date and time of exposure.

You can get all the picture information along with a histogram and visual highlight of
over-exposed areas by pressing the DISPLAY
button. It is very complete and includes folder and image number,
ISO sensitivity, exposure mode, shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation,
flash compensation, white balance, focus mode, image size and quality, date and time.

The playback image can be magnified 3x or 6x by toggling the zoom control to the
telephoto position. You can stop at either enlargement step and scroll around inside the
image.

Toggling the zoom control to the wideangle position enables the thumbnail index mode.
Here you can quickly search through the stored images and find one to playback in
full screen mode.

Pressing the JUMP button lets you move quickly forward or backward through the
thumbnails a page at a time.

You can record up to a 60 second "audio note" that will linked to the current image.
These audio notes are saved as standard Windows WAV audio files. When in Play mode you
display the picture you want to attach the note to and then press the metering
button. This brings up the audio recorder interface as shown
above with the familiar record, stop, play, delete buttons and a timer.

The Play mode menu with options for Protecting images from accidental erasure,
Rotate to re-orient portrait mode images for proper display on a TV screen, Erase All images. Single images can be erased by
pressing the "Star" button while they're being viewed.
The Slide Show option lets you select an interval time between
images and and start and stop a presentation. The Print Order option lets you embed
DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) information on the card so any selected pictures
can be easily printed by DPOF-compliant printers or services. Transfer Order lets
you specify which files to be auto-moved to the host computer via USB.s

The 320 x 240 resolution movies playback fullscreen and the audio can be monitored
on the built in speaker.

Additional image data can be displayed just like in still image playback mode.

This is the SETUP menu and it is available from any menu even when in Play mode.

Beep - On or Off

LCD Brightness - On or Off

Playback Volume - 5 levels

Auto Power Down - On or Off

Date/Time - set date and or time

Format - format the CF card

Language - set the menu language

Video - output format NTSC or PAL

Steve's Conclusion

The Powershot S30 is the 3-megapixel twin of the 4-megapixel PowerShot S40. They're both compact, high quality digital
cameras with a 3x optical zoom lens and housed in a stylish, pocket-sized and
durable metal body. The S30 captures and processes up to 2048 x 1536 images (JPEG or
RAW) very fast and stores them on any size Type I or II memory card or Microdrive.
It also has a 3-point autofocus system with user-selectable focusing point and
manual focusing with an enlarged view on the LCD plus a distance scale. Dim
lighting conditions are handled with ease thanks to the focus-assist illuminator. If
you feel the need for speed, the 1.5fps continuous mode is joined by a High-Speed
2.5fps Continuous mode capable of capturing up to 5 Large/Fine frames. And the
movie mode is selectable for either 320 x 240 or 160 x 120 resolution.

In manual or shutter speed priority mode you can select speeds from 1/1000 out to 15
seconds. Noise reduction is automatically applied whenever the shutter speed is 1.3
sec or longer. The Program AE exposure mode now has Program Shift so other
combinations of shutter speed and aperture can be selected and there's also five
preset exposure modes. Playback mode offers a histogram plus over-exposure
indication. White balance options include automatic, the standard presets, manual
preset and a Fluorescent H setting for daylight temperature bulbs.

The S30 (and S40) are powered by a newly designed NB-2L battery pack lithium
rechargeable type. This is a capable power source but nowhere near as powerful as
the BP-510 used in the G2 camera. A compact camera requires an equally compact
battery so one should use the color LCD conservatively or else keep a spare and
charged second battery at the ready. My only real complaint with the S30 is that
the optical viewfinder shows only about 75% of the captured image and it isn't very
well centered either. The color LCD is close to 100% coverage so if you absolutely
need to be sure of your framing then use the LCD if possible.

The S30's lens for the most part is excellent and produces sharply focused images
but it does exhibit a noticeable amount of barrel distortion at full wideangle.
Considering the size of this retractable aspheric zoom it is to be expected. I also
saw some softness around the edges of the frame but almost no chromatic abberation.
Chromatic Abberation is what most people call a "purple fringe" that is often seen
around brightly highlighted objects and is present in a lot of today's digicams.

Software improvements include the new Remote Capture 2.0 that now has the option for
"live" viewfinder display as well as Video Out or LCD output as well. And Canon now
includes Adobe Photoshop 5.0 LE in the software bundle. The PowerShot S30 can be
connected directly to Canon's new 820D color Bubble Jet printer to make up to
8.5x11-inch photo prints without a computer. Like the other new Powershots, the S30
can also be connected to the pint-sized Canon CP-10 dye sub
card printer.

If you're in the market for a compact but advanced and high-resolution digital
camera that can be operated by novices as well as experienced photographers, then
check out the new Powershot S30. If you need more resolution then the 4-megapixel
Powershot S40 will suit you better. Like the Powershot A10 and A20 twins, the S30 and S40 are
physically identical and differ only in the resolution of their CCD and finished
image size. These new Powershots are lean and real speed demons, it's a pleasure to
use a camera that's this responsive both in its image processing and autofocus
speed.

Visitors of Steves can visit the stores below for real-time pricing and availability. You can also find hot, soon to expire online offers on a variety of cameras and accessories at our very own Camera Deals page.